Fete Marks 10 Years Since Fall of Marcos / Many who resisted dictator remained politically active

Benjamin Pimentel, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Monday, February 26, 1996

Bay Area Filipinos will commemorate the fall of Ferdinand Marcos today with a gathering at the Philippine Consulate building in San Francisco, where local activists staged a mini-uprising of their own 10 years ago to mark the end of the dictatorship.

Marcos was forced out of the Philippines during a popular revolt in February 1986. In San Francisco, his overthrow was greeted with wild cheers and dancing on Union Square and the takeover of the Philippine Consulate by anti-Marcos activists.

The anti-Marcos movement in the United States -- led by exiles, immigrants, American-born Filipinos and their supporters -- had helped expose the late ruler's abuses and U.S. support for the dictatorship.

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It was also a defining political experience for the community as a generation of Filipino Americans honed their political skills during 14-year-campaign against Marcos and went on to play important roles in local and national politics.

Today's anniversary celebration will include speeches by local leaders in the Filipino community and an ecumenical service.

"The Filipino community will remain a base of fairly progressive people open to ideas of civil rights," said Bill Tamayo, a former anti-Marcos activist and civil rights advocate. "They know within their life experience what it means not to have democracy. They understand what happens when you deny people their rights."

Rene Ciria Cruz, a former exile and editor of Filipinas magazine, said many former anti-Marcos activists went on to encourage Filipino Americans to become more politically involved.

"More people were talking about joining the political process, about pushing for more political appointments, running for office, making Filipinos vote," he said.

Some activists entered local politics, including Philippine News columnist Rodel Rodis and businessman Dennis Normandy, both of whom served on San Francisco city commissions. Publisher Alex Esclamado, whose Philippine News was the leading anti-Marcos newspaper in the United States, remains active in Asian American politics.

For American-born Filipinos, the movement was also an enriching personal journey. Melinda Paras, who was born and raised in Wisconsin, said she came to understand her heritage better.

Paras attended college in the Philippines in 1971, the year before Marcos imposed martial law. She then joined the leftist underground, was captured by the military and deported back to the United States.

She spent the next 14 years campaigning against the regime. After Marcos fell, Paras joined hundreds of dancing and singing Filipinos on Union Square.